Review of Joe Haldeman’s 2008 Heinlein-esque novel Marsbound

Science fiction and fantasy author Mel Odom has written a short but fresh review of Marsbound (Ace, 2008), the recent YA-ish, Heinlein-esque novel starring 19-year-old Carmen Dula, written by award-winning SFWA Grand Master Joe Haldeman. Odom concludes, “This is old school science fiction in contemporary mode, with a heroine that any SF reader will enjoy. But it’s more adult in some areas that some parents will be willing to share with middle graders.”

New flash fiction: “Marshoppers and Birds” by L. Hall

The free SF story site 365 tomorrows has a new piece of flash fiction titled “Marshoppers and Birds” (2009), by L. Hall. It’s a quaint agricultural tale about insects and birds on the Red Planet. Here's the opening line: “Robert Lynch kicked the treads of the small field tractor, clots of dried mud falling off and busting on the ground.”

Shadows of Medusa, a 2004 SF/Mystery novel by Brian Enke

Shadows of Medusa (PublishAmerica, 2004), written by space research analyst and science fiction author Brian Enke, “is the first mystery/science-fiction novel in a series dedicated to true-science, feasible-engineered, near-future Mars settlements.” Here’s a synopsis of Shadows of Medusa:

The first human exploration mission to the planet Mars is shrouded in secrecy. Even David Debacco, the Director of Mission Support, doesn't know the identity of the mission sponsors or their true agenda. As David struggles to keep the brave Mars explorers alive, an expanding web of deceit threatens the mission and the woman he loves. Anna Schweitzer is traveling to Mars in a bold pursuit of knowledge, barely aware of the Earthly plots surrounding her. Against impossible odds, she looks to Mars for hope. Will she live long enough to reach its untamed surface? Or will she succumb to elements more terrifying than any she left behind on the Earth?

In 2007, the blog Words from the Aether said Shadows of Medusa is “real science fiction the way it should be.”

"The Madman of Mars," a 1950s Space Western comic starring Spurs Jackson

The blog Awesomer Than Thou has selected, readable jpegs of Part 1 of a two-part comic entitled “The Madman of Mars.” Published in the #44, 1953, issue of Space Western Comics, the story features Spurs Jackson and his Space Vigilantes as they venture to Mars to battle evil Nazis who have destroyed Paris, Moscow and New York with devastating hydrogen bomb rockets.

Worldcon 2010: An environmental challenge for Kim Stanley Robinson

Considering that Kim Stanley Robinson, one of my favorite Martian science fiction writers, is a self-described “green socialist,” was crowned one of Time magazine’s Heroes of the Environment 2008, and will appear as a Guest of Honour at Aussiecon 4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention, to be held in September 2010, in Melbourne, Australia, I’m issuing a friendly challenge to him:

KSR, calculate and disclose your carbon footprint for attending Worldcon 2010, from the time you leave your home in the States to the time you return.

Looking back at Ian McDonald’s 1988 novel Desolation Road

Over at Tor.com, Canadian SF&F writer Jo Walton takes an interesting look back at Desolation Road (1988), the debut novel by British SF author Ian McDonald that was reprinted earlier this year by Pyr. Set in a growing town on Mars, Walton calls the work a “magic realist science fiction novel” and concludes: “If you ever want to demonstrate how different science fiction can be, what an incredible range and sweep of things are published with a little spaceship on the spine, Desolation Road is a shining datapoint, because it isn’t like anything else and yet it is coming from a knowledge of what the genre can do and can be and making something new out of it.”

Pictured: Desolation Road (Pyr, 2009 reprint)

Creepy Dutch cover art for John Wyndham’s 1936 novel Planet Plane

Here's a beautiful but creepy piece of cover art: De minnaar van Mars (De Bilt: De Fontein, 1976), a Dutch paperback reprint of British science fiction author John Wyndham’s oft-forgotten novel Planet Plane (1936), which was reprinted in the early 1970s as Stowaway to Mars.

“You,” a new short story by Geoff Ryman

Canadian science fiction, fantasy and slipstream author Geoff Ryman, who currently resides in the United Kingdom, has a new short story set on Mars: “You,” published in When It Changed: Science into Fiction, an Anthology (2009, Comma Press, UK), a volume that strives to put the science back into fiction.

According to a recent review of the anthology printed in the Guardian, Ryman’s story “imagines a future in which people ‘life-blog,’ not merely laying down a diary of their thoughts but actually recording sense impressions from their eyes and ears and touch, so that you can ‘sit with them, read with them, drink with them, hell, even pee with them.’ ‘I bet it's like this for angels,’ one of Ryman's characters observes. It is by means of fragmentary life-blogs that we see things from the point of view of a Mars explorer who has stumbled upon a cache of mysterious metal cylinders buried in the rust-red dust. She spends her life puzzling over whether the strange spiral markings on each cylinder are natural or artificial, the product of an extinct intelligence on the red planet.”

When It Changed: Science into Fiction, an Anthology, which, coincidently, is edited by Ryman, is scheduled to be released in the United States in Spring 2010.

Cities of Martian Rails: Arsia

Martian Rails, the new board game made by Mayfair Games about railroading on the Red Planet in which players build tracks and haul freight, has a long list of interesting cities that players can utilize to generate revenue for their rail companies. For example:

Arsia -- A small settlement on the caldera of the Arisa Mons volcano in the southwest section.

Martian Rails is loaded with references to Mars and Martian SF!

Podcast of "Martian Chronicles," the new YA Mars story by Cory Doctorow (Part 6)

Canadian blogger, copyright activist and SF author Cory Doctorow is off on holiday, but he left us a present: Part 6 of his podcast of “Martian Chronicles,” a new Young Adult short story that he is writing for Australian editor Jonathan Strahan's forthcoming YA Mars anthology, Life on Mars (2010). According to Doctorow, “It's a story about the colonization of Mars by free-market absolutists and the video-games they play.” Download Part 6 (MP3, 13 min.) from Archive.org, or stream it through this toolbar:


In case you missed them, here are the links to download the MP3 files for Part 1 (7 min.), Part 2 (15 min.), Part 3 (14 min.), Part 4 (22 min.) and Part 5 (27 min.).

Interview with writer D.B. Grady and review of Red Planet Noir, his retro Sci-Fi detective novel

Mystery author Bonnie Kozek interviews writer D.B. Grady, whose debut novel Red Planet Noir (2009) was recently published as a paperback original by Brown Street Press of Lexington, Kentucky. A hard-boiled detective tale written in the pulp tradition of the 1930s, Red Planet Noir is “a Raymond Chandler mystery in a Robert Heinlein world.” If you're not familiar with the storyline, here's a detailed description:

Michael Sheppard was the best private eye in New Orleans, and then his wife left him. After finding solace in the bottle, he finds his career in the toilet. Nights at the casino pay the bills, until they don’t, and leg breakers start knocking at the door, and knocking out his teeth.

When a socialite on Mars offers him work, it’s a chance for a new start. Her name is Sofia Reed and her father is dead. The coroner says suicide, but Sofia suspects foul play. A leader of the Martian police state, her father had powerful enemies, and nobody on Mars will touch the case for fear of retribution. Michael Sheppard is her only hope.

Chased by cops and gangsters, his investigation takes him from stately mansions to smoke-filled speakeasies, from deserted ice colonies to mining towns on the asteroid belt.

All he wanted was a paycheck to clear some gambling debt. Now Michael is the key figure in a murder conspiracy that’s left a vacuum in the halls of power, with the labor union, mob and military vying for control of Mars.

Read Chapter 1 (PDF) of Red Planet Noir and check out mystery author Debbi Mack’s short but positive review.

“Thia of the Drylands,” a 1930s short story written by Harl Vincent

Johnny Pez has just posted the fifth and final installment of “Thia of the Drylands,” a Hugo Gernsback Era science fiction story written by Harl Vincent that was first published in the July 1932 issue of Amazing Stories magazine. The plot revolves around a former space pilot with a mysterious Martian disease who travels to the Red Planet for a cure. Here are the opening lines:

“Is that final, Mr. Sykes?”

“It is, Barron. Sorry, but I can say no more -- we’ve done all we can. You’re just out of luck, I’m afraid.” The president of Interplanetary Lines, Incorporated, could not meet the gaze of the tall young man who faced him across his polished mahogany desk.

Cliff Barron’s white lips set in a tight, grim line, and fire flashed from his shadowed eyes. He was sick, very sick, and disabled besides. Broke. Let down by the employers he had served honestly and faithfully for more than ten years. Hopeless of the future. ...

I’ve wanted to read this story for a long time. Thanks, Johnny! Looking forward to your review.

Pictured: Cover of Amazing Stories, July 1932.

“The Waters of Mars” creates a flood of viewers for BBC America

The science-fiction entertainment news site Airlock Alpha reports that the BBC’s acclaimed Doctor Who television special, “The Waters of Mars,” attracted a record 1.1 million viewers to its American cable channel last Saturday evening. If you missed the adventure and horror at Bowie Base One on the Red Planet and don't want to wait for the DVD or Blu-Ray to be released, you can watch the entire 60-minute program on YouTube!


And, if you’re not opposed to some fantasy with your science fiction, take the Best Bum on Bowie Base One poll.

PS Publishing reprints Patrick O’Leary’s 2002 short story “The Me After the Rock”

The Black Heart (2009), a new collection of short stories written by American SF/Fantasy author Patrick O’Leary and published by UK-based PS Publishing, includes his 2002 short story “The Me After the Rock,” which was originally published in the anthology Mars Probes (2002).

According to a recent review essay by fellow author James Lovegrove published in the Financial Times, “The Me After the Rock” is about “a dialogue between two quarantined astronauts who’ve returned from a mission to Mars where something went badly wrong. We’re given only teasing glimpses as to the nature of the mishap. However, the revelation that we are reading a transcript of their conversation is a chilling clue.”

Looney Tunes: Warner Bros. to bring cartoon character Marvin the Martian to big screen

The Los Angeles Times reports that Marvin the Martian, the Looney Tunes cartoon character who dates to the late 1940s, will star in his own movie. A Warner Bros. and Alcon Entertainment project, the film will be a CG/live-action hybrid directed by Alex Zamm. The plot: Marvin ventures to Earth in an attempt to destroy Christmas, but his plans are foiled when he gets trapped inside a gift box. The film is scheduled to land in theaters during the 2011 holiday season.

If Berlusconi can get a nose fixed, maybe he can have this 1970s cover art doctored

Now that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi knows how Joan of Arc felt as the flames rose to her roman nose and her hearing aid started to melt, maybe he'll contact someone who works in his publishing empire to have this sad piece of 1970s Italian cover art doctored: L'Ordine e le Stelle (1975), a paperback translation of Cyril M. Kornbluth and Judith Merril’s 1952 novel Gunner Cade. The last names of both authors are misspelled!

Dark Horse to reprint Dell's John Carter of Mars comics from 1950s

Dark Horse Comics will reprint all three issues of Dell Publishing’s Four Color Comics: John Carter of Mars series, written by Paul S. Newman and illustrated by Jesse Marsh, in their entirety in a forthcoming volume entitled Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars: The Jesse Marsh Years (May 2010).

25 notable Mars books of the past decade

After browsing some bibliographies, perusing industry and fan reviews, and reflecting upon my own readings, I’ve put together a list of 25 notable Mars books from the past decade. While I don't consider it to be a “Best of” list, I think most readers of Martian science fiction will agree with about 20 of the 25 titles. Best of success in finding some of these at your local library!

Barsoomian Christmas Card‏ by Jeff Doten

Artist and Barsoomian fan Jeff Doten sends his holiday cheer and wishes for well being and peace throughout the solar system with this awesome Barsoomian Christmas Card. May all your woola wishes come true!

Jeff Doten maintains Barsoomia.org and The Fire Gods of Venus Project.

Project Mars, a new online serial by JD Adler

Author, poet and philosopher JD Adler, who uses his storytelling to both entertain and educate, is in the process of writing an online science fiction serial entitled Project Mars (2009). Set in the near future, the plot revolves around the human settlement of the Red Planet following first contact with indigenous Martian life. Here are the opening lines of Chapter 1:

Jan. 28, 2025
Text of Public Statement
The United Federation of Nations
Office of the President
President Avram
Volunteers Needed

Citizens of Earth, I come to you today to speak on an issue of tremendous importance to us all. It is with great deliberation and contemplation that the decision to bring this information to you today was made. For many years, decades in fact, we have known this information within the halls of government the world over. Not having a complete set of facts or an understanding of their import, we chose to withhold the information from the public. We feared a worst case scenario of public panic and anarchy weighed against a best case scenario of providing no real benefit. So we erred on the side of caution. ...

At the moment, Adler has posted the first nine chapters of Project Mars.

Key diagram to artist Frank R. Paul’s famed 1939 illustration, "The Man from Mars"

Fans of the old science fiction pulp magazines will probably recognize this colorful illustration of "The Man from Mars", drawn by artist Frank R. Paul and featured on the back cover of the May 1939 issue of Fantastic Adventures. Less recognizable is this black-and-white “key diagram” to Paul’s illustration, presumably printed in the same issue.

Commodities of Martian Rails: Arms

Martian Rails, the new board game made by Mayfair Games about railroading on the Red Planet in which players build tracks and haul freight, has a long list of cool commodities that players can transport to generate revenue for their rail companies. For example:

Arms -- Mars was named after the Roman god of war. Blood red, it has lived up to its name. The various inhabitants of Mars have been in a state of war throughout its history. Certain tribes excel at weapon production and make a living by selling weapons of death to others.

Martian Rails is loaded with references to Mars and Martian SF!

The Purple Twilight, a 1948 novel written by Pelham Groom

Here’s a little-known science fiction/fantasy novel about Mars that’s new to me: The Purple Twilight, by Pelham Groom (London: T. Werner Laurie, Ltd., 1948). A synopsis of the novel, compiled from several descriptions provided by booksellers on AbeBooks: Debonair adventurer Peter Mohune travels by rocket from a satellite aerodrome to an inhabited Mars, where he is shown visions of Earth’s past, including a culturally-rich Atlantis that was destroyed by atomic energy and cosmic rays. Apparently, The Purple Twilight is a "cautionary tale concerning nuclear arms race."

Poll: Best bum on Bowie Base One

Watched by millions of SF fans in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia, the BBC’s highly anticipated Doctor Who television special “The Waters of Mars” is scheduled to air in the United States on the BBC America channel this Saturday night, December 19th, at 7:00 p.m. To mark the occasion, I’m conducting a global poll as to which of these four female characters on Bowie Base One in “The Waters of Mars” has the best bum:

• Captain Adelaide Brooke

• Geologist Mia Bennett

• Chemist & Engineer Maggie Cain

• Physicist Steffi Ehrlich

The poll, which closes on December 31, 2009, is located near the top right-hand column of this blog, below the cover art of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles.

Frank Frazetta’s $20 million art collection to be relocated following son’s attempted theft

The Pocono Record of Pennsylvania reports that the $20 million art collection of renowned SF&F artist Frank Frazetta has been removed from the family museum in Marshalls Creek and will be permanently relocated elsewhere. The announcement follows the December 9th alleged attempt by Frazetta’s son, Alfonso “Frank Jr.,” to steal the collection amid a family feud over the aging artist's legacy. In related news, WNEP-TV reports that Frank Jr., who was arrested over last week's attempted theft, was released from jail late Wednesday afternoon after posting bail. His preliminary hearing was continued until January 6, 2010. He is charged with burglary, criminal trespassing and theft.

Five Mars SF/F writers share the same birthday

Thanks to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, one of my favorite bibliographic tools, I just learned that five Martian science fiction and fantasy writers were born on this day in history:

• Carl L. Biemiller (1912-1979), author of the children’s book The Magic Ball from Mars (1943), the text of which was reprinted in Forrest J Ackerman’s Martianthology (2003).

• Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008), author of the influential hard science novel The Sands of Mars (1951).

• Willis E. McNelly (1920-2003), co-editor of the anthology Mars, We Love You: Tales of Mars, Men, and Martians (1971) and author of the essay “Linguistic Relativity in Middle High Martian" (1968).

• Randall Garrett (1927-1987), author of the short story “The Man Who Hated Mars” (1956) and “On the Martian Problem” (1977), a letter from character John Carter to author Edgar Rice Burroughs explaining how he was able to travel to the Red Planet.

• Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), author of the novels Martian Time-Slip (1964) and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965).

“The Stone Goddess,” a new horror story by Sean Monaghan

SF/F/H writer Sean Monaghan’s new horror story, “The Stone Goddess,” was recently published in Horror Through the Ages (Lame Goat Press, 2009), an anthology edited by Christopher Jacobsmeyer and comprised of “a multitude of horror stories from virtually every time period, prehistoric to distant future.” Featuring a Mars-based researcher reeling from the loss of his lover but still focused on finding the ever-elusive “holy grail” of Martian microbial life, here are the opening lines of “The Stone Goddess”:

Ben shook dust from his undersuit and keyed the light on. That formation yesterday, at the edge of the valley, he'd dreamed of it. Something about ... an alien visitor ... about ... ... but the dream slipped away. It was a good place to look, he thought. A good place to take some samples from. Perhaps there would be some microbes in the shady soil nearby, or colonising the vesicles within. Today's workplan wouldn't let him go back, though.

Ben kissed his fingertip and touched it to the photo of Danielle that flickered on the bedside table. "Morning honey," he whispered. ...

Sean Monaghan tutors in creative writing and writes stories in a range of genres. His science fiction stories have appeared in Other Voices, Infinite Windows, 365tomorrows and others. Sean currently lives in New Zealand. More about his writing at his website, www.venusvulture.com.

Pictured: Cover of Horror Through the Ages.

Author Joe Haldeman named SFWA Grand Master

Congratulations to author Joe Haldeman, who will be honored as the next Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in 2010 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). The Grand Master distinction is the organization’s highest honor and “recognizes excellence for a lifetime of contributions to the genres of science fiction and fantasy.” Haldeman, a past SFWA president, is a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of 20 novels and five collections. His most recent novel is Marsbound (Ace, 2008), pictured above.

[via John DeNardo of SF Signal]

Mars is My Destination, a 1962 novel written by Frank Belknap Long

Mars is My Destination: a Science-Fiction Adventure, by Frank Belknap Long (1962)

Pictured: Paperback original (New York: Pyramid Books, 1962), #F-742, 158 p., 40¢. Cover painting by John Schoenherr. Here's the description from the back cover:

There was trouble brewing on Mars -- bad trouble. Two giant industrial empires fought for control there, and their struggle imperiled the whole Mars colony. Civil War -- atomic civil war -- could break out any second, leaving Earth’s only foothold in Space a mass of radioactive rubble. But both antagonists were too politically powerful for the Colonization Board to take a direct hand. One man was needed to take charge -- one man who could act fast and decisively, brutally if he had to. Ralph Graham got the job. And then people began dying around him ...

An obituary of author Frank Belknap Long appeared in the January 5, 1994, issue of The New York Times.

Podcast of "Martian Chronicles," the new YA Mars story by Cory Doctorow (Part 5)

Thanks to Canadian blogger, copyright activist and SF author Cory Doctorow, you can listen to Part 5 of his podcast of “Martian Chronicles,” a new Young Adult short story that he is writing for Australian editor Jonathan Strahan's forthcoming YA Mars anthology, Life on Mars (2010). According to Doctorow, “It's a story about the colonization of Mars by free-market absolutists and the video-games they play.” Download Part 5 (MP3, 27 min.) from Archive.org, or stream it through this toolbar:



In case you missed them, here are the links to download the MP3 files for Part 1 (7 min.), Part 2 (15 min.), Part 3 (14 min.) and Part 4 (22 min.).

Japanese cover art: Geoffrey A. Landis’ 2000 novel Mars Crossing

Here’s some interesting cover art: 火星縦断 (Hayakawa, 2006), a Japanese paperback reprint of Geoffrey A. Landis’ 2000 science fiction novel Mars Crossing, winner of the Locus Poll Award for Best First Novel. If you can read Japanese, check out the fan reviews on Amazon Japan.

Top-paid employee at SFWA, HWA, MWA, RWA

In light of the spirited and educational discussion that has taken place over the past two weeks about the pay rates being offered to pulp authors by Black Matrix Publishing, I thought it would be interesting to see what each of four national professional writer associations paid its top employee in terms of compensation (salary/wages) over the past few years. Note that all data was taken from IRS Form 990 tax forms filed by the organizations themselves and housed in a public database maintained by the Foundation Center (easier than linking to PDFs in GuideStar).

British surgeon pens novel about trauma on Mars

Congratulations to Steven Cutts, a trauma surgeon at James Paget University Hospitals in England, whose novel, Viking Village (2009), was recently self-published as a paperback through Pen Press in the UK. Inspired by a passion for astronomy and influenced by the writing style of the late Arthur C. Clarke, Viking Village is set about 50 years in the future and details an attempt by two United States naval officers to rescue a group of astronauts stranded at a base on Mars. Here’s a description of the novel:

It is the end of the 21st century and the American base on Mars is about to expire. All attempts at rescue have failed and a dozen astronauts are facing starvation. Close to despair, NASA turns to the military and strikes gold. Naval officers David Hewish and Nobohito Kazu are willing to take risks that no normal man would contemplate and the pair of them are soon aboard the Ajax and heading for the Red Planet.

Viking Village is available for purchase through Amazon UK. It is also being serialized in First Edition Magazine, a hardcopy magazine published in England.

Steven Cutts is also the author of a medical textbook and has had several articles published in national newspapers.

“Evergreen and Always,” a 2008 holiday story by Alice M. Roelke

If you have the holiday spirit this year, you’ll probably enjoy “Evergreen and Always” (2008), a wonderfully touching short story by SF&F writer Alice M. Roelke that was published last December in the #49 issue of Ray Gun Revival (PDF, 6 MB!). Here are the opening lines of the story:

The phone rang. Bill Salle scrubbed the towel across his hair again and walked to the phone. The screen said it was long distance, from Mars. He slung the towel to the back of a chair across the room, pressed a button. “Hello?”

A face appeared on the screen, a tensed, lonely, rich, bloated white face. A man who worked long hours, slept little and worried plenty. The kind of man who could afford to hire the solar system’s best and most expensive messenger service. ...

Alice M. Roelke has also had her work published in Mindflights, The Sword Review and Dragons, Knights, and Angels. She maintains a blog called The Writing Life For Me and hates Wonderland jokes.

Date set for Issue #2 of comic adaptation of William Shatner's 1996 novel Man O'War

Comic book company Bluewater Productions recently announced that the second issue of Man O’War, its adaptation of the eponymous 1996 science fiction novel by Star Trek actor and bestselling author William Shatner, will be released in March 2010. Written by CJ Henderson and illustrated by Pat Broderick in consultation with Shatner, the storyline for the comic series will be a continuation of the established plot in the novel, as opposed to a direct adaptation. Here’s how Bluewater describes Issue #2:

Diplomat Benton Hawkes is fighting mad and on his way to Mars. Someone is tampering with his life, and he's determined to stop them. He just may be able to, if he can stop the shipful of space pirates out to kill him, that is.

Issue #1 of Man O'War is scheduled to be released in Feb 2010.

Pictured: Cover of Man O'War, Issue #2.

Actor Gene Barry, star of 1953 film War of the Worlds, dies at age 90

Television, film and stage actor Gene Barry died Wednesday, December 9, 2009, age 90, in Woodland Hills, California, according to an obituary in The New York Times. Among his many accomplishments was his lead role as scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester in the George Pal film production of War of the Worlds (1953), based on the classic 1898 novel by H.G. Wells. Barry also made a cameo appearance as Tom Cruise’s ex-father-in-law in the Steven Spielberg remake of War of the Worlds (2005).

Pictured: Gene Barry as Dr. Clayton Forrester.

Review of Theodore Judson’s 2008 novel The Martian General’s Daughter

Mahesh Raj Mohan of Strange Horizons has written an interesting review of Theodore Judson’s recent novel, The Martian General’s Daughter (Pyr, 2008), a science fiction work which tells the story of Peter Black, the last loyal general in a sprawling empire that is rapidly crumbling, as seen through the eyes of his illegitimate daughter. Mahesh Raj Mohan concludes that “Narrative ‘frustrations’ aside, however, The Martian General’s Daughter is a well-researched and engaging novel, with a vibrant milieu, and definitely worth a look.”

Thanks to editor Lou Anders, you can read the first two chapters of The Martian General’s Daughter on Pyr’s website.

Podcast of "Martian Chronicles," the new YA Mars story by Cory Doctorow (Part 4)

Thanks to Canadian blogger, copyright activist and SF author Cory Doctorow, you can listen to Part 4 of his podcast of “Martian Chronicles,” a new Young Adult short story that he is writing for Australian editor Jonathan Strahan's forthcoming YA Mars anthology, Life on Mars (2010). According to Doctorow, “It's a story about the colonization of Mars by free-market absolutists and the video-games they play.” Download Part 4 (MP3, 22 min.) from Archive.org, or stream it through this toolbar:



In case you missed them, here are the links to download the MP3 files for Part 1 (7 min.), Part 2 (15 min.) and Part 3 (14 min.) from Archive.org. Enjoy!

Son of artist Frank Frazetta arrested for stealing his father's paintings

Sadly, Frank Frazetta Jr., the son of renowned SF&F artist Frank Frazetta, has been arrested for stealing 90 of his father’s paintings, worth about $20 million, from a family-owned museum located in the Pocono Mountains region of northeastern Pennsylvania. If you can believe this, the son and two accomplices used a backhoe to break into the museum. A family dispute seems to be at the center of the theft. This story is being reported at the local, national and international level.

Several of Frank Frazetta’s paintings were used as the cover art for later editions and reprints of the legendary Barsoom series of Mars novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Pictured: John Carter of Mars and Martian princess Dejah Thoris. Artwork by Frank Frazetta.

[via Mike Glyer of the fanzine File 770]

Cities of Martian Rails: Argyre City

Martian Rails, the new board game made by Mayfair Games about railroading on the Red Planet in which players build tracks and haul freight, has a long list of interesting cities that players can utilize to generate revenue for their rail companies. For example:

Argyre City -- A medium town in the south central section. The town is located in and named for the Argyre Basin, a large impact basin in the southern deserts.

Martian Rails is loaded with references to Mars and Martian SF!

An interview with writer D.B. Grady

Freelance writer and Louisianaian D.B. Grady, whose debut novel Red Planet Noir (2009) was recently published as a paperback original by Brown Street Press of Lexington, Kentucky, is interviewed over at the blog On the Brink of Love and Life! A hard-boiled detective tale written in the pulp tradition of the 1930s, Red Planet Noir is “a Raymond Chandler mystery in a Robert Heinlein world.” Sound interesting? Read Chapter 1 (PDF) for free!

Ace to reprint Robert A. Heinlein’s classic 1963 novel Podkayne of Mars

Robert A. Heinlein’s classic novel Podkayne of Mars (1963) is scheduled to be reprinted as a trade paperback in early January 2010 by Ace Trade. One interesting point about the cover for the forthcoming reprint: the style and size of the font almost make it look like her name is “Pookayne.”

“No Child of Mine,” a new Space Western story by Filamena Young

Twenty-something writer and new mom Filamena Young recently had her short story “No Child of Mine” (2009) published online at SpaceWesterns.com. Set on an isolated homestead on the Red Planet, “No Child of Mine" revolves around a lonely old woman who longs to be a mother again. Here are the opening lines:

“I said ‘get’ and go on out.” Geraldine told her unwanted intruder.

Terry, a young wife from the homestead down the road stood looking slack-jawed as Geraldine shuffled her slowly back into the red sands and cold winds of the Martian landscape.

“And you can tell that son of mine, if he wanted to check up on me, he could do so his own damn self.” That wouldn’t happen, of course. The Companies had their contracts with the miners. Six months on, six months off. All in all, it was a fine deal for the miners. The wives tended to be less convinced. ...

“No Child of Mine” is the follow-up story to Young's “Mars Ain’t No Place for Ladies” (2007), another Space Western.

Old time radio: Adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s 1950 short story "Outcast of the Stars"

Back in January 1952, the radio program NBC Presents: Short Story broadcast “The Rocket,” a 30-minute adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s short story “Outcast of the Stars” (1950, variant title "The Rocket"), which was originally published in the March 1950 issue of Super Science Stories magazine. According to old time radio aficionado Bob Camardella, the adaptation is about “a poor man who runs a junkyard [and] wants nothing more in life than to travel to Mars." Enjoy!

The Call of Ktulu

This post has nothing to do with Mars, but I’m learning so much from Tor.com’s Cthulhu Month that I decided to play along with this awesome ten-minute music video of heavy metal band Metallica performing its classic 1984 instrumental tribute to cosmic horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, “The Call of Ktulu,” live with Michael Kamen conducting the San Francisco Symphony, recorded in April 1999 at the Berkeley Community Theatre.



If you're shopping for a younger metalhead with classical music training this holiday season, consider buying him/her the CD or DVD of Metallica's monumental S&M live album (1999).

Mars story runner-up in 2009 Medical SF Contest

Congratulations to James H. Dawdy, whose short story "Mars Rescue" (2009) won Second Place in the 2009 Medical Sci-Fi Contest sponsored by Medgadget, an internet journal of emerging medical technologies written, edited and published by a group of MDs and biomed engineers. Loaded with medical technology, Dawdy’s story is about the rescue of a field geologist from Valles Marineris.

A gallery of Gunner Cade cover art

In memory and honor of all those who were killed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, I have compiled a gallery of Gunner Cade cover art on Flickr. Written by Cyril Judd (joint pseudonym of Cyril M. Kornbluth & Judith Merril) Gunner Cade is a military SF story partially set on Mars. It was first serialized in Astounding Science Fiction magazine in 1952 and then published as a novel later that year. Note the 1979 French edition in the gallery, which misspelled Judith Merril’s last name. Additions or corrections are welcome.

Martians, Go Home, a new comic adaptation of Fredric Brown’s classic 1955 novel

The first issue of Martians, Go Home, a new six-issue comic book adaptation of science fiction author Fredric Brown’s classic 1955 “paranoia” Sci-Fi novel, was scheduled to be released last week by Sequential Pulp Comics. Written by Martin Powell and illustrated by Mike Manley, here’s a description of Martians, Go Home:

That's right, real Martians. Seriously. Suddenly, without warning, one billion Little Green Men are everywhere. The Martians are on your street and in your house, all of them knowing your deepest and darkest secrets. Untouchable as ghosts and obnoxious as hell, their sinister agenda remains a mystery. Perhaps their plan is simply to drive the entire human race insane, for that is exactly what they're doing.

From flop house to the White House, no one is above, or below, the torment of the alien invaders. All is lost. Or is it? Only our unlikely hero, Luke Devereaux, a burnt-out science-fiction writer with nothing left to lose, knows how to defeat the Martians . . . but he has already lost his mind!

Writer Martin Powell, whose career was inspired by Ray Bradbury and who has corresponded with the literary legend over the years, revealed in a January 2009 interview that the comic adaptation of Martians, Go Home is the most rewarding project of his professional career.

Equally interesting is this March 2009 interview with artist Mike Manley, in which he stated that he first became aware of Fredric Brown's 1955 novel "as a teenager mostly through the cover art that Kelly Freas painted."

Although I don’t particularly care for the cover of Issue #1 painted by artist Bret Blevins (pictured above), the interior art is simply amazing. Check out some of Mike Manley’s sketches and finished pages for Martians, Go Home on his blog, Draw!

New Zealand crew finishes shooting short SF film Last Flight

A film crew in New Zealand has just finished shooting a short science fiction film entitled Last Flight, which revolves around the last woman alive on Mars and her dwindling air supply. Written by director Damon Keen and starring Kassie Watson as a female astronaut, the project’s budget is only about $20,000 NZD. Nevertheless, read the script (PDF, 62 KB), view the final storyboard (PDF, 5 MB), relish some of the set photos from beautiful New Zealand and stay tuned for release info.

Auf Zwei Planeten, 1897 novel by Kurd Laßwitz

Auf Zwei Planeten, by Kurd Laßwitz (1897)

At left: Paperback (New York: Popular Library, 1971), 383 p., 95¢. Translated from German by Hans H. Rudnick. Epigraph by Wernher von Braun. Afterword by Mark R. Hillegas. Here is the piece from the back cover:

Seeking the North Pole, the tiny band of explorers found instead a Martian settlement on earth, an artificial island with a floating ring space station, populated by ideal beings with light hair and shining powerful eyes -- peaceful, civilized creatures who wanted to educate men in advanced Martian ways. In return, they sought only air and energy from earth’s bountiful supply. But human folly provoked the Martians to war, and their easy victory spelled separation for Joseph Saltner and La, lovers from two planets whose happiness personified the possibilities of universal peace. The utopian vision of this remarkable and important novel had a profound influence of German astronomy and the American space program. Its astonishing fantasy has for decades captured the imagination of European readers. One, Wernher von Braun, writes "I devoured this novel with curiosity and excitement as a young man. ..." Here is the first English translation.

A “lost science fiction classic,” Two Planets is the English translation of Kurd Lasswitz’s novel Auf Zwei Planeten, which was originally published in German in 1897 and abridged by his son, Erich Lasswitz, in 1948 and 1969.

Interestingly, a review of Two Planets by Theodore Sturgeon in the May 14, 1972, issue of The New York Times mentions that “the book was banned by the Nazis as ‘democratic.’"

Auf Zwei Planeten is one of author Kim Stanley Robinson’s 10 favorite Mars novels.